Fly Past

Operation Barbarossa MESSERSCHMITT BF 110

34 FLYPAST May 2018

Operation BarbarossaOperation BarbarossaOperation Barbarossa MESSERSCHMITT BF 110

canopy. Under the centre fuselage

section, on an ETC-500 pylon,

combinations of 250kg (551lb)

or 500kg bombs could be carried.

Some of the ’E-2s had underwing

points for either four 50kg

bombs, or 96

SD-2 high-

explosive bomblets

• both of which were
  effective against unarmoured
  military vehicles, or aircraft.
  Led by Knight’s Cross holder
  Oberstleutnant Johannes Shalk,
  ZG 26’s I Gruppe was commanded
  by Hauptmann Herbert Kaminski,
  while Hptm Ralph von Rettberg
  headed II Gruppe. Rettberg had
  been awarded the Knight’s Cross on
  the eve of Barbarossa on June 14,

1941. In addition to Rettberg, ZG

9th Fighter Air Division (FAD), and

the 122nd Fighter Air Regiment

(FAR) of the 11th FAD had been

driven away from forward airstrips

by the constant German attacks.

The remains of the 41st,

124th, 126th,

and 129th

FARs

redeployed

around Białystok, while the 122nd

FAR moved to Lida and Lesishche.

After this the Luftwaffe

transferred its attention to

airfields deep inside Soviet

territory, along a line stretching

from Lida to Białystok to Pinsk.

By around 09:30 ZG 26 had

been readied for the next sortie,

targeting the 127th FAR, the

16th High-Speed Bomber Air

Regiment (HSBAR) of the 11th

Mixed Air Division at Skidzyel’ and

Cherlona, and the 13th HSBAR

of the 9th Mixed Air Division at

Borisovshizne. All of these bases

were located in the area around

Lunna about 24 miles (40km)

southeast of Grodno in Belarus,

close to the present-day Polish and

Lithuanian border.

At 09:35 Moscow time, around 40

LUFTWAFFE UNIT STRUCTURE

Staffel: Plural – Staffeln. Smallest combat fl ying unit, normally of

nine aircraft. Denoted using Arabic numerals. Thus 3./JG 26 would

be the 3rd Staffeln of Jagdgeschwader 26. RAF equivalent would be

a squadron.

Gruppe: Plural – Gruppen. Comprising three (in later years four)

Staffeln plus a Stab (headquarters, or staff) fl ight. Denoted using

Roman numerals, eg I, II, III. Thus I./JG 26 would be the 1st Gruppen

of Jagdgeschwader 26 and Stab/JG 26 would be its headquarters

fl ight. RAF equivalent would be a wing.

Geschwader: Plural is also Geschwader. Comprising three (in later

years four) Gruppen plus a Stab. Denoted using Arabic numerals, eg

1, 2, 3. RAF equivalent would be a group.

26’s line-up included several aces,

among them the following staffeln

commanders: Hptm Wilhelm Spies

(also awarded the Knight’s

Cross on June 14, 1941)

of 1./ZG 26,

Oberleutnant Johannes Kiel of 4./

JG 26 and Oblt Theodore Rossiwall

of 5./JG

26.

In June

1941, ZG 26’s inventory

of Bf 110Cs and ’Es stood at: Stab 4, I

Gruppe 38 and II Gruppe 36.

STANDING IN LINE

The first Luftwaffe sorties on the

Eastern Front were carried out

early in the morning of June 22,

1941, attacking Soviet airfields

in Lithuania. Units from the 8th

Fliegerkorps operated over the

border between the Soviet west and

northwest fronts and were active in

the Baltic states and in Belarussia

(now Belarus).

Between 09:30 and 10:00 hours all

four fighter regiments of the Soviet

To p

Messerschmitt Bf 110

‘3U+CM’ of 4./ZG 26. IGOR

ZLOBIN

Above right

An Arkhangelskii Ar-2 at

Borisovshiznaof.

Right

Bf 110s of 5./ZG 26 in

fl ight. CHRIS GOSS